


kiss and make up

by coffinz



Category: Frank Iero and the Future Violents (Band), Frank Iero and the Patience, Gerard Way and the Hormones, My Chemical Romance
Genre: (Just kidding), Alternate Universe - No Band, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Husbands, M/M, Making Up, Married Couple, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Protective Older Brothers, Protective Siblings, also ill be real with you, bear with me i've never posted before so idk what im doing, hopefully this works tho, so only children do NOT interact, this is almost 2k words of me projecting my eldest sibling anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29079585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffinz/pseuds/coffinz
Summary: By the end of the day, Frank is exhausted and frustrated beyond belief, and all he really wants to do is go home, curl up beside his husband, and let the stress of the day be cuddled out of him.Of course, though, things don't go as planned.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	kiss and make up

**Author's Note:**

> hi!!  
> full disclosure, i've never posted anything on here before so please bear with me if the formatting is a little wonky.  
> big thanks to @mitch23k for betaing!! love u <3

Frank has had a horrible fucking day. 

First was the phone call with a student's mother. Honestly, getting your parents to talk to people for you in college is already bad enough, but this lady was the dictionary definition of a bitch, screaming at him and demanding to know why her son had a 43 in his class. And of course, Frank has to be very professional about it all, which means not telling this lady that her son is a spoiled, lazy, entitled brat who never shows up to class and hasn't bothered to turn in anything since a few weeks after the beginning of the semester, even though that is absolutely the reason he's doing so poorly. It isn't the first time he's dealt with parents like those, and he's sure it won't be the last, but regardless, being yelled at for thirty minutes kind of fucking puts a person's nerves on edge. 

_Then_ had been the email from admin, oh-so-smugly reminding him that he needs to have all his midterm grades entered by 5:00 pm on Friday, as if it isn't their fucking fault the testing software had fucked up and didn't let him read student submissions for a week. So he has to bust his ass grading essays, which means he's going faster than he really wants to, which means his students will get very little feedback, and won't have any idea what to work on.

Needless to say, by the end of the day, Frank is exhausted and frustrated beyond belief, and all he really wants to do is go home, curl up beside his husband, and let the stress of the day be cuddled out of him. 

Of course, though, things don't go as planned. 

Frank knows something is up the moment he walks through the door. Usually when he comes home, Gerard is either still back in his studio, or lounging on the couch watching TV. Today, though, Gerard's pacing in the kitchen, running a hand through his hair and looking agitated. 

"What's up?" Frank asks, setting his bag down beside the door. 

Gerard heaves a sigh. "Mikey," he answers. 

Immediately, Frank feels a surge of concern. "Did something happen? Is he okay?" 

"No. I mean, yes, but--" Gerard sighs again. "He wants to quit his job and look for work in cybersecurity instead, and I know he's smart and capable, but what if it doesn't work out? He's going to be throwing away a pretty decent salary and great insurance to go into a field that he doesn't even know if he'll make it in!" 

Privately, Frank feels a twinge of annoyance. He's met Mikey plenty of times, and the guy isn't stupid. This doesn't seem like something Gerard needs to be concerning himself with. Still, he tries to be patient. 

"I'm sure he's thought this through, Gee. I doubt he's going to do anything rash." 

"You don't know that!" Gerard retorts. "What if he can't find work and ends up losing everything?" 

"Do you honestly think that's going to happen?" Frank's words are a bit harsher than they need to be, but Gerard is being unrealistic. This is a man Frank's age they're talking about, not a kindergartener. 

"I don't _know_. That's the whole thing. Are you even listening to me?"

And yeah, that ticks Frank off, because of course he's fucking listening-- Gerard is the one who isn't listening to himself. 

"He's a fucking adult, Gerard. You don't have to worry over him like you're his mother--" 

"Stop it," Gerard snaps, whirling around with a glare. "You don't have siblings. You have _no idea_ what it's like, you have _no idea_ how I feel!"

And with that, he grabs the car keys from the counter and storms out of the house. Frank hears the muffled noise of the ignition starting, and just like that, the irritation he feels begins to melt away and make room for guilt. 

He and Gerard don't fight very often, but when they do, Frank always feels horrible afterwards. He hates making Gerard upset, and he hates being upset with Gerard, even when he thinks he's in the right. And he's not so sure he was, this time. 

After thinking for a moment, Frank opens the drawer and rummages around for the keys to Gerard's old clunker, a Toyota Corolla he's had since college. They don't use it much, but with Gerard working from home, it's good to have around for such emergencies as unexpectedly running out of India ink and needing to race to the craft store to get more. It is, Frank realizes as he starts the car, also good for when you piss your husband off and he takes the good car, but you need to go and get him dinner to apologize for being a jerk. 

Frank drives to Walmart, since all the florists are closed by now, and picks out the most colorful bouquet he can find. It makes him smile a little-- if you'd had asked him ten years ago, he would have loudly and stubbornly insisted he would _never_ marry anyone who liked shallow, frivolous things like _flowers_. But here he is at 27, with a husband who absolutely loves them and puts every single bouquet he gets into a vase on their dining room table. Life is funny that way sometimes.

From Walmart, he heads to one of Gerard's favorite places, a Chinese restaurant that they don't go to very often due to the meager vegan selection. An order of spring rolls, a carton of orange chicken, some fried rice, and a Diet Coke later, he's on his way back to the house, now thoroughly equipped for Operation: Apologize For Being A Dickhead. 

When Frank pulls in, he's surprised to see that Gerard is home already, car in the garage and kitchen lights turned on. He parks at the end of the driveway and grabs the food and flowers, then heads inside, making sure to hit the button to close the garage as he does so. 

The first thing he sees upon walking in is a large plastic bag with the logo of his favorite vegan place on it, sitting on the counter next to a pack of Twizzlers. Frank can't help the smile that spreads across his face. It's things like this that make him remember just how fucking lucky he is to have Gerard. 

Gerard comes in from the living room then, and Frank says "I'm sorry for being so pissy" at the same time Gerard says "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that". They both smile at themselves, and then Frank says "You go ahead" at the same time Gerard says "You can go first", and that makes them both laugh, and Frank knows without words being spoken that they're gonna be okay.

Still, it doesn't hurt for him to use words anyway. "I really am sorry," he tells Gerard, holding out the food and the bouquet. "You're right, I don't know what it's like to have a brother, and I shouldn't have gotten snappy with you over it just because my day wasn't great." 

"It's okay." Gerard gives him a grateful kiss and takes the flowers and the bag of food, setting the latter on the counter and opening the cupboard under the sink to find an appropriate vase. "I'm sorry too," he tells Frank as he turns on the sink faucet, filling the vase partially with water. "I didn't mean to seem like I wasn't paying any attention to you. I know Mikey's more than capable of making his own choices, and that it's not my responsibility to worry about him. It's just... it's hard, you know?" 

Frank senses he's not quite finished. "Do you wanna talk about it?" he asks, starting to unpack the food and arrange it onto plates. 

"I don't know. Kind of." Gerard finishes arranging the flowers and sets the vase down in the middle of the dining room table. "I want you to understand where I'm coming from, mostly." 

Frank hands him his plate and kisses his cheek. He gets it. Sometimes Gerard just wants someone else to see what's going on in his head. "'Course. Let's sit." 

They sit down on the couch, pulling the coffee table towards them to set their food down on. Gerard even remembers to set a coaster down under his cup of Diet Coke. 

"Be still my heart. Have I finally trained you?" Frank teases, gesturing with his fork towards the coaster. Gerard, predictably, sticks his tongue out at him, then admits, "Yes." 

"Next step, getting you to pick your washcloths off of the shower floor." 

"Yeah, let's not get too hopeful." 

Frank grins. He loves his husband. Which, yeah, duh, but like, he _really_ loves his husband. Horrible washcloth habits and all.

"Okay, talk to me." He nudges Gerard's shoulder gently with his own. "What's going on in your mind?" 

Gerard holds up a finger, swallowing the piece of orange chicken he'd been chewing before answering. "Okay, it's just-- Mikey's been this huge part of my life since I was three, you know? Like, I physically can't remember a time when I wasn't his older brother. It's been part of my identity for almost my entire life. No matter what else I was, I was always, _always_ Mikey's older brother."

He twirls his chopsticks in his rice. "And it's like-- I know he's an adult, I know he doesn't need me to look after him, but I just... I don't know how _not_ to be his big brother. And it's kind of scary, knowing he doesn't need me anymore." 

Frank thinks he understands. Maybe not intimately, since, yeah, he's an only child. But he knows what Gerard's trying to say. 

"Yeah, that makes sense. And for what it's worth, I think he'll always need you to be his older brother, Gee." 

"You really think so?" Gerard asks, looking over at him. 

"Yeah. I mean-- just like you've never not been his big brother, he's never not been your little brother, right? He's always had you to look up to, or to go to when he needed advice. He probably doesn't know how not to be your little brother." Frank takes Gerard's free hand and gives it a comforting little squeeze. "You don't have to stop being a big brother just because you're both adults." 

Gerard lets out a shaky breath, tears welling up in his eyes, and twists to give Frank a tight hug. "Thank you," he whispers, pressing his face into Frank's shoulder. 

Frank presses a kiss to the top of Gerard's head, rubbing his back. "Of course, hon. I love you." 

"I love you too," comes the muffled reply from where Gerard's mouth is smushed against Frank's shirt. 

Gerard holds onto Frank for a while, like he always does when he's emotional, then pulls back once he's composed himself and reaches for his rice again. "You mentioned you had a shitty day. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," Frank admits. "I'd rather just cuddle and try to forget about it. Or, you know, do _other_ things to try and forget about it." He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, and Gerard swats him, but Frank can tell he's fighting to hold back laughter. 

"You are incorrigible," Gerard tells him, unable to keep from smiling. 

"That wasn't a no." 

"Oh my _god_." Gerard gives a playful roll of his eyes. "At least let me finish eating first." 

Frank sets his empty plate on the coffee table, and nestles into Gerard's side. "Deal." 

Yeah. They're gonna be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> you can also find me on twitter @.worstvow or tumblr @.geoffrickly !! :]


End file.
